The Cabal
Overview The shadowy organization only known as 'The Cabal' appears to have expressed interest in procurement of deep crystal via rather dubious channels as well as research of forbidden knowledge related to the matters of outer planes. If certain sources are to be trusted then it can be said that competition within its very own ranks is being actively encouraged. History Little is known about the organization, let alone its roots. Goals Little is known about the organization aside from its apparent interest in planar and psionic research. From the intelligence gathered so far it would seem that the Cabalites hold little reservations as far the means of attaining more power are concerned. If anything most of these means appear to revolve around the use of an intertwinned web of proxies and often mind-control-versed field agents of various stripes. Members Dolgrin - dwarven engineer (???) The only true members of the organization encountered by the party did indeed fit the image of an archetypical cultist - that of a follower some odd and deeply disturbing teachings, ones which also made them hold the non-initiated in great contempt. The said cultists wielded potent psionic powers and when cornered ended their lives with the use of such, leaving the party with no prisoners to interrogate, their hubris getting better of them. Encounters The first set of encounters the adventurers had with the Cabal is implied to had taken place way before anyone was the wiser. 'Dolgrin', a fellow of an appearance of your archetypical dwarven engineer recruited the locals to perform various tasks (mostly worker rescue, monster purge, water pump repairs) inside the recently discovered dwarven tomb complex located beneath Falador. Later the same dwarf sent the adventurers to essentially smuggle a valuable historical artifact south east of the city. On their way they encountered a number of obstacles, including deliberate assassination attempts, brigand attacks and whatnot. The cargo (that being an apparently sentient magical orb) in itself ended up projecting power beyond the team's imagination obliterating some of their foes before returning back to its dormant state. In the end the party's mission turned out to be a success. However the likely remotely-triggered, disturbing demise of their apparently magically-compelled adversaries made them realize that some greater power had been pulling the strings all along. One of the captives, a mercenary of the 'Ebony Bulwark' company stationed in Anvildor only managed to utter the name of his employer... that of a certain 'dwarven engineer'. As the party returned back to Falador they were informed of the apparent freak accident claiming the life of Dolgrim. And thus the lead they had ended up cold. Though not for long. Intelligence gathering finally brought some results as Shin's operatives (Order of the Night's Edge) reached a suspicious lumber mill site west of Falador. Seedy lumberjacks, hostile malfunctioning warforged work force aside the team's gathered enough evidence to proceed further... back into the tomb complex. The complex turned out to contain many more secrets and dangers. Several tens of feet below Falador the team discovered what remained of an over five hundred year old astral vessel, its corrupted crew members as well as a number of cultists also investigating the site. Said cultists unleashed an array of potent psionics but ultimately fell to the concerted efforts of the party. However the encounters so far took quite a toll on the team who now being very drained decided not to face the reminder of the Cabalites, content with what they had gathered. From that moment onward Order of the Night's Edge focused on monitoring all signs of deep-crystal trade, be it by normal or less than official means. Sooner rather than later a report from a Rike operative confirmed a large-scale smuggling operation being undertaken by two cartels, one which also involved delivery of a quite sizable cache of deep crystal. Shin decided to intervene and intercept the smuggling caravans which were deployed on the eastern coast of Falador, but for that to happen the party had to approach the matter with great care, seeing that the intel was not entirely complete. Most of the caravans were ruled out save for 4 which the team decided to approach in the most covert manner possible so as to avoid rousing suspicion and thus risking dispersion of the cargo afterwards. The mission, in spite of quite a number of unexpected factors rearing their ugly heads at the least opportune times turned out to be a major success. The cargo was recovered, the smugglers were none the wiser and a prisoner of war in the form of an odd psionic assassin warforged was captured. The captive, however, was not cooperating and turned out to be immune to traditional 'interrogation methods'. Before the organization would try to risk divination attempts on the forged frame the current field HQ ended up assaulted. After a short encounter with a summoned elemental and a number of truly bizarre aberrations Dolgrin's duplicate revealed himself... only to offer his aid against the force sent after the party's heads... for whatever reason (only mentioning the fact that Cabal encourages competition within their own ranks). Neither party trusted one another but, lacking better options, the team decided to cooperate with the Cabalite, ending up rewarded with a control rune which brought the captive under their command in exchange for allowing his serf to inspect the said frame beforehand. BE CONTINUED Category:Organizations